Tag Archives: PAX East

Exciting news for Robot Entertainment fans across the globe as yesterday the studio announced that they have secured a minority investment from Tencent, a large Chinese publisher who recently also announced that they would be publishing Orcs Must Die! Unchained in China. A minority interest means that Robot maintains control over its operations, this is an investment which secures additional funding / capital for Robot’s endeavours.

“Taking on Tencent as an investor gives us additional financial flexibility but, more importantly, it creates a long-lasting and valuable partnership with the world’s premier publisher and operator of games”, said Robot Entertainment CEO Patrick Hudson. “It’s a very exciting time for Robot Entertainment. We’re looking forward to showing Orcs Must Die! Unchained to fans at PAX East in Boston and releasing the game to market later this year on PC and PlayStation 4.”

This is great news for the studio and will help the studio grow and maintain its already great record at delivering fun games. The future is looking very bright indeed for Orcs Must Die! Unchained. It’s shaping up to be a big 2015 for Robot Entertainment. You can read more about this investment news at the Robot Entertainment website.

Phase 2 and PAX East

Fans who have been eagerly awaiting news about the release of the OMDU phase 2 closed beta can now be informed that Robot will be releasing this major update on March 24th in the US and shortly after in the EU. Feel free to join in on the pictorial discussions happening on the forums!

We are also just weeks away from PAX East taking place from March 6th. Robot Entertainment will be attending with their own OMDU booth. Representatives from Gameforge will also be in attendance. Those who come to Robot’s booth will get an exclusive chance to play Phase 2 OMDU gameplay, and as always, will be able to walk away with some sweet swag as well as closed beta access and a new skin for the War Mage.

This years PAX skin will also be available for anyone who is currently participating in the closed beta. The scarf you see being worn with the War Mages approval will be given out to attendees at the PAX booth. If you’re heading to PAX be sure to pop by and get your scarf and first Phase 2 gameplay!

As the world keeps talking about OMDU, REF is here to keep you in the loop with our second media round-up. MOBA or no MOBA, or maybe something else. There is a lot of discussion in the media about how to categorise OMDU. Sometimes it is difficult to categorise a game perhaps because it is something new and fresh, and thats what OMDU is. It’s not your average MOBA, its a card collecting fortress siege game. Lets take a look and see what the media have been discussing.

Polygon – In their article they brand OMDU a class-based, card-collecting MOBA. This article is a good read and mainly focusses around the “Is/isnt it a MOBA” discussion. Patrick Hudson and Ian Fischer are on hand to help clear up the confusion.

“MOBA’s become very much defined by what League of Legends is, which we feel is a little bit limiting for Orcs Must Die! Unchained“

Said Patrick Hudson, Robot’s numero-uno CEO.

Gau Studios - They have a cool interview with design director Ian Fischer at PAX East. They talk about the alpha and the community and some of the characters in OMDU.

Orcs Must Die: Unchained is twice the game that the previous entries are. You’re more or less responsible for mastering the original defense game, while simultaneously mastering a new offensive game on the same maps with nine other players. Adding to that newfound depth is a collectible card upgrade system that allows you to develop your character.

Whatever your approach ends up being with Unchained, it’s probably going to be vastly different than what you’re used to from the other Orcs Must Die! games. Just because the namesake and art style are the same, doesn’t mean that it’s the same Orcs that you played in the past. No,Unchained is going to do all it can to make sure that you balance your playstyles, or suffer defeat as a result of your neglect.

The gameplay was simply a ton of fun. The classic lure-and-trap mechanics that made Orcs Must Die! such a success are still here, which was fantastic to see. The animations were wonderfully fluid and the art looked sharp as enemies stormed into our keep into a volley of arrows and tar pits.

Gamers Nexus - PAX East 14: Orcs Must Die! Unchained Gameplay with Chris Rippy. Some cool snippets of gamplay video of some of the heroes. Chris Rippy describes the core gameplay elements such as the card and deck building. Towards the end they cover the monetization model. Well worth the watch.

If you come across any media reports or other OMDU content be sure to let us know.

Great news for Orcs Must Die! fans – its your lucky day as Robot have just announced the next OMD game – Orcs Must Die! Unchained, or OMDU for short! IGN has the scoop. OMDU is the biggest game to date in pretty much every way – bigger levels, more playable characters, deeper deck / inventory system, more enemies and of course even more traps, whats more this is all free-to-play!

Time to get back in the action! Bigger and better than ever before.

Not only is it bigger and better than ever before, OMDU is a radical change to the gameplay. Now for the first time players will be going head to head against themselves to defend and attack strongholds. Thats right OMDU takes a leap into an expansive multiplayer experience! Solo modes are also available as well.

Lets take a look at how Robot sums it up:

Orcs Must Die! Unchained is a fast-paced Fortress Siege action game in which teams of heroes battle head-to-head to attack and defend ancient strongholds. For the first time in Orcs Must Die!, teams of players are responsible for both sides of the battle — building traps to stop the enemy assault AND summoning their own armies to lead against the enemy defense.

OMDU is big, we’re talking up to 5v5 play against friends or global multi player search. To help with this there are a host of new charecters along side the trusty War Mage and Sorceress. OMDU introduces Blackpaw, Midnight, Stinkeye, and Bloodspike into the fray plus many more. This time the hero’s aren’t all human either!

The Motley Crew – Just a selection of the hero’s playable in OMDU.

The decks and inventory system has been completely overhauled, decks are deeper than before and are much better organised. There is also a full upgrade system in place to power up your inventory. Heroes, weapons and traps can all be upgraded not to mention upgrades to minions who will prove to be essential in helping turn the tide of battle.

Seeing is believing – check out the teaser trailer

Don’t take our word for it – take a look at the brand new teaser trailer to see some of the greatness thats in-store for fans coming up in OMDU. Looking mighty fine folks!

Get immediate or early access!

Looking for early access to OMDU? No problem! This time around Robot has introduced a scheme that lets super fans get ahold of the game early, or even much earlier such as right now! Thats right, by purchasing membership to the “Founders” club fans can get ahold of the alpha of OMDU right now! The immediate alpha access costs $149.99 an for that you get a ton of extra stuff on top worth up to $500, this includes 1 alpha and 5 beta codes to share with friends and $200 worth of in-game currency to spend how you like on upgrades. You also get access to the 5 founders heroes, skins and most of all exclusive access to the developer forums. A great deal for mega OMD fans!

If you don’t mind holding tight for a little bit you can get priority alpha and beta access from $59.99 and $19.99 respectively. You can find out all about the Founders access by heading here: https://orcsmustdie.com/founders

Much more to come

We’re just scratching the surface of whats coming up in OMDU. Expect much more to be revealed over PAX and over the coming months. Keep a sharp eye out and dont forget to to sign up on the brand new Orcs Must Die! website. There are brand new forums for people to hop on and discuss this exciting announcement! We’ll see you there

More information

To read more about OMDU check out the article at IGN where both Patrick Hudson and Ian Fischer discuss parts of the game and the free-to-play model.

Its no secret that Robot has a tendency to demonstrate new things at PAX East and with the expo just 4 days away it is certainly a time for fans to keep their ears to the ground for an announcement of some kind! Robot Entertainment are a confirmed exhibitor at this years PAX East which means it is very likely something new is coming to the table.

Considering the recent partnership announcement with GameForge being confirmed as a PC tittle for 2014, it is almost certain that we will be seeing a new PC game from Robot at PAX East in just a few days time.

Be sure to be following both Robot and REF on Twitter for all the scoop!